Shattered Dreams
by Dinahmite64
Summary: Why is it Poniko is never able to socialize with others? Madotsuki will get to the root of this problem.
1. The Burden of Friendship

Madotsuki had flown all the way across the Pink Sea on a magical balloon to meet up with Poniko, her blonde-haired friend who was very socially awkward and in most cases, was a loner. She wanted to help Poniko learn how to socialize and make friends. Perhaps she could introduce her to Monoe or Monoko- those two were pretty talkative. Or perhaps even Seccom Masada-sensei would be willing to teach her the way of music. Or even that green-skinned roadkill she left back in the forest a while ago would be willing to socialize.

As she approached the cone-shaped Christmas tree-like castle, she took a breath of relief. It never was comfortable, flying over a vast sea with only a small balloon standing between you and death. She told the balloon to remain in place, and it willingly obeyed, parking itself on the edge of the snowy land almost like a car in a perfect parking spot.

As Madotsuki approached the door, she pondered "What if she isn't home...?" But she doubted it, as this girl was a loner who believed that the only place she ever belonged was in her home, as she also felt that the world would scorn her.

Madotsuki entered the house without knocking, and saw a blonde-haired girl with a ponytail, a green shirt and a brown skirt sitting up on her bed, looking at a photo album.

"Heeey, Poniko!" Madotsuki announced. "Whatcha looking at?"

"...Nothing..." Poniko said, with a depressive sigh, stuffing it under her mattress, arousing Madotsuki's curiosity more than anything.

"Uh... how do you feel today?" Madotsuki asked, concerned for the girl's health.

"Same as always..."

"And that being...?" Madotsuki pushed.

"...Sad... hateful... angry... scared... lonely..." Poniko listed in drab fashion, pointing out on her fingers. "The same as always..."

Madotsuki rubbed her chin in thought. _Now, why does Poniko feel this way? It's not like she has a reason to. I mean, look, I'm socializing with her. Isn't that a good enough hint to her that somebody out there does care? Or is she that dense and self-absorbed? Well, maybe now is a good time to break in my idea!_

"Hey," Madotsuki concluded. "why don't I introduce you to some of my friends? I'm sure they'd love to meet you!" she thrusted her arms in the air with enthusiasm.

Poniko's sad expression quickly changed to an expression of resentful fury. "I'M ALONE BECAUSE IT'S BETTER THAT WAY!" She cried out, tears forming in little beads in the corners of her eyes. "I-if I go out, I might-"

"Might what?" Madotsuki asked, concerned.

"Uhhh... ahhh... it's best if you don't know..." Poniko turned around in shame.

"Serial killer? That's fine." Madotsuki announced, flapping her hands in front like it was no big deal. "You could never be as bad as those bloody Toriningens."

"They excluded me from their party once..." Poniko recalled. "and that was when I..." she pondered if she should fully recall it, but then... "can we change the subject, please?" she was not ready to.

"I-if you want..." Madotsuki agreed, nervously. She sat on Poniko's bed bed and had her hands on her lap, and kicked her feet back and forth as she stared at the ceiling in thought. Poniko looked away from Madotsuki and tears rolled down her cheeks. She let out an uncontrolled sigh of pure sadness. This broke Madotsuki's train of thought.

"Are you okay?" she asked, a little more concerned this time. "I-if you want me to leave..."

"NO!" Poniko yelled, grabbing Madotsuki by the bottom of her skirt and tugging at it. "Please stay." she pleaded.

Madotsuki was surprised. This girl who, as a rule, hated people was begging her to keep her company.

"You... want me to stay here with you?" Madotsuki asked, confused.

"Yes..." Poniko nodded. "M-maybe there's a game or something we could play! How about Chess or Checkers?"

Madotsuki broke a sweat. "I'm not good at either of those..."

"Well, good." Poniko responded, getting up and walking over to her shelf. "Because I don't have either."

"What games do you have?" Madotsuki asked, curiously.

"Oh, I just remembered!" Poniko exclaimed. "I don't have any!"

A sweat drop formed behind Madotsuki's head. "Don't... have... any... Well, then how do you keep yourself occupied in this bloody place?!"

Poniko recoiled at the fact that Madotsuki was yelling at her. Then she looked down at the floor in shame and grabbed hold of her left arm. She slunk back into her depressive mood. "You... yelled at me... why...?"

Madotsuki jumped slightly in denial. "I didn't yell at you!"

"You're doing it again..."

"I AM NOT!" Madotsuki cried. "**THIS** IS YELLING! I WASN'T YELLING BEFORE!"

Poniko began to sniffle. "This is why I don't socialize with anyone!" she cried out in desperation. "BECAUSE I CAAAAAAN'T!" She threw her shelf over and grabbed the sides of her head. She began to wail uncontrollably.

Madotsuki felt afraid at this point. Perhaps she should leave until this blows over. She moved towards the door, and the ceiling light blew. Suddenly, from what light she could see through the window, Madotsuki noticed Poniko slouching over.

As she doubled over in pain, Poniko turned to look at Madotsuki, her face half-covered in what appeared to be black sludge and white goop. The human half looked very sad and mournful. "It's all... your fault..." Poniko blamed, clenching her teeth in pain. She rolled over twice, being overcome with the black goop, which seemed to be pouring from her throat. She began to gurgle and spit, and tossed and turned violently, trying to resist this evil force that was clearly overcoming her.

Madotsuki became scared and pulled out her Knife for protection. "Poniko!" she called out to her friend. "I know you can hear me! You have to fight it!"

The black sludge began to take the shape of an upright blob with a ridiculous smile and unbalanced eyes. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Madotsuki saw the last of Poniko's face disappear within this horrid creature known to many as Uboa. Uboa looked at Madotsuki laughingly and approache dher. Out of fear, Madotsuki stabbed it. And stabbed it. And stabbed it. She repeatedly stabbed Uboa, hoping that eventually he would leave Poniko alone. Uboa fired a red lazer at Madotsuki, who resorted to pinching her cheek and waking up.

Poniko lay in the shadows of loneliness and despair. This horrible beast may have just killed her only friend. Again. She would never know whether or not they were dead, or that they just simply stopped seeing her.


	2. The Burden of Loneliness

Poniko eventually began to come to, and the black sludge returned into her body, rushing itself down her throat. She gagged slightly, just short of throwing up. She looked around her wrecked room. She saw blood on her floor and the destroyed room. She felt a lump in her throat.

Poniko began to cry. She couldn't hold it in any longer; her despair had burst forth like a destroyed hydro dam. She sunk down to her knees before the piece of pink fabric which was the remainder of Madotsuki's shirt. She clinged onto it and began to wail.

"Once again... once again, I have made a friend... only to kill them later..." Poniko lamented, looking up at her ceiling. "Why..."

Madotsuki's clothing piece felt like cotton, just as her skirt had when Poniko tugged on it. "I... didn't want you... to leave me..." Poniko sniffled, gazing upon it.

Suddenly, Poniko saw an apparition; it was Uboa.

"YOU!" Poniko cried angrily. "Why do you torture me so?!" She pulled a book off her shelf and proceeded to smack Uboa with it repeatedly. "YOU. KILLED. ALL. MY. FRIENDS!" She began to smack harder and harder as every word jabbed out of her dry, hoarse throat.

Uboa coiled forwards, trying to cover its head from the shocking blows delivered by the angry blonde.

Poniko was not showing any signs of stopping. She began to viciously ravage Uboa with blows of many hard objects, until eventually he disappeared. And Madotsuki lay on the floor covering her head, blood coming out of her nose.

Poniko finally settled down and dropped the chair that she was about to hurl and gawked in horror. She realized that Uboa had tricked her once again.

Poniko stared at Madotsuki and then at her bloodied hands, and back at Madotsuki. Her eyes widened with terror.

"I-is there really a Uboa?" she whimpered. "O-or is it j-just m-me...?"

"It's Uboa..." Madotsuki replied, getting up and wiping the blood off of her nose. "He's been playing games with you... and he had just tried to kill me before, but I pinched myself and woke up."

"It's all my fault..." the emotionally distraught Poniko blurted out angrily. "I can't control Uboa!"

Suddenly, Madotsuki realized something. "Uboa feeds off your loneliness, Poniko!"

Poniko opened her eyes. "N-no... he's the reason why I'm so lonely... he kills all of my friends..."

"Why do you think?" Madotsuki replied, frustratedly. "He wants you all to himself! It's very obvious, Poniko! He wants you to be lonely so he can feed off of it! Like a- like a parasite!"

Poniko clasped her hands together behind her back. She turned pale white and began to sweat. Now she wa safraid. "What'll happen if I disspell Uboa?" she wondered, expecting to hear the worst.

"Who knows?" Madotsuki replied. "Maybe Masada-sensei will know the answer."

Poniko looked confused. "Who's that?"

"My music teacher alien friend!" Madotsuki replied with a giggle. "Don't worry; there's nothing to be afraid of! He's the nicest guy like, _ever_!"

Poniko looked away from Madotsuki and pondered to herself whether or not this was a good idea. Then she concluded, "May-maybe I shouldn't... I mean, I m-might cause trouble for him, and..."

"Oh, pish posh!" Madotsuki scolded. "He'd be more than happy to meet you! He once said that if I had any other friends, I could always bring them any time I wanted to!"

Poniko felt cornered at this point.

"Besides," Madotsuki added. "I want to. You'll really like it!"

"I hope so..." Poniko blushed.

"You will."

"Hm."

"..."

Madotsuki then grabbed Poniko by the wrist, and ran to the parked balloon. She then told Poniko to put her arms around her neck, and they soared off past the pink sea.

Poniko was shocked. She had been on that tiny island for so long, she had forgotten what had lain beyond. She was both excited and afraid to meet this friend of Madotsuki's.


	3. The Burden of Masada

Eventually, the two girls made it to what appeared to be a space shuttle. Poniko's gut was wrenching at her with anxiety. She felt naked; exposed. Being out here in public for the first time in God knows how long made her feel like eyes were burrowing into her back. But there was only her and Madotsuki in the vicinity. The sand of the desert like floor getting inside her shoes wasn't exactly a luxury, either. She preferred her house hands down over this forsaken world. As if seeing that creepy, distorted crying one-eyed blue thing in the Subway wasn't weird enough.

Madotsuki knocked on the door and cried out a gleeful "Masada-Senseeeeeeiiii!~ Are you iiiiin?"

The door opened, granting the two girls access. Madotsuki heard what sounded like an organ. Poniko felt very anxious about this. Hesitantly, she followed her braided friend, holding her hand. Madotsuki felt the cold of Poniko's palm biting her own. It was utmost unnatural. _But who am I to dictate what's natural and what isn't?_ Madotsuki pondered, thinking even about Masada and his '9_6' face that he always seemed to have. She always wondered how he could see her properly.

Suddenly, with addition to the organ music playing, Masada leaped out from behind the wall and screamed loudly like a psychotic killer, causing Poniko to run away. After 30 minutes, Madotsuki managed to convince her to return and that Masada was pulling a prank on them.

"I'm sorry, Madotsuki." Masada apologized. "I didn't know you had brought a friend along." He turned his face towards Poniko. "Hello. I am Seccom Masada." he outstretched his hand, but Poniko withdrew from the handshake and hid behind Madotsuki.

"Sorry," Madotsuki apologized on her behalf. "this is Poniko. She's a loner. She doesn't socialize well with other people."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Masada replied. "She has a sickly air about her, though."

"She has a nightmare inside of her." Madotsuki explained. "It's a black mass her size, with a white face endless stare, its mouth upturned in a grotesque mockery of a smile. Its name is Uboa. Remember? You once told me about him."

"Ohhh... Uboa... well, now, that's... uhhh... hmm..." Masada began to ponder what to do at this point.

"It's feeding off Poniko's loneliness!" Madotsuki exclaimed. "And it makes sure she stays lonely by killing anyone who befriends her."

"Then perhaps I shouldn't befriend her, hmmm?" Masada proposed. "Perhaps the girl is better off alone. If this is the case, bringing her out into the public will only end in ruin. The company of many others will bring out Uboa, and he will consume everyone."

Poniko nodded in agreement and proceeded for the door. Madotsuki grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back, which frustrated her.

"Is there some way we can expel Uboa?" Madotsuki asked Masada. "If we do, will it hurt Poniko in any way?"

"It may kill her." Masada replied, with a tone of hurt in his voice. He sat down on a chair.

Poniko felt the sting of a thousand knives in her stomach and back. She knew it. She was probably bonded to this demon by now, and she knew that she was beyond help. She walked to the door to return to the humid land of the Pink sea, when once again, she was detained by Madotsuki by the door. She wrenched her arm out of her grip angrily and spat. "Thanks for nothing!"

Angered and hopeless, Poniko wandered off. Madotsuki waved good-bye to Masada and followed after her.

"Poniko, Uboa is attracted to loneliness! If you stay alone, he'll-"

"IF I DETACH FROM HIM, I'LL DIE!"

"Maybe not. Maybe he'll leave you and search for another victim." Madotsuki proposed. "Please, Poniko. You've been feeding him for so long. How much longer are you planning to keep this up? It's like a disease; you went too long without seeing someone who knows something about it, and now that you have something that you can do to cure it, you're willing to sit back and fight it out rather than do something about it. This isn't going to pass!"

Madotsuki's words stung like the cold winds of the Yuki-Onna, but Poniko knew deep down that they were the truth. The only reason why she had begun socializing with Madotsuki was because Madotsuki persistently entered her house. At least 64 times a day until she finally spoke to her. Then after speaking to her, she found out that she wasn't so bad. Poniko thought that she could finally open up to someone, but as usual, Uboa prepared to intervene.

"Uboa is a jealous creature..." Poniko deduced. "He wants me, and wants to make sure nobody else can have me. He would rather I be lonely with him forever."

"He's pure evil." Madotsuki exclaimed. Then she decided to bring up her old idea. "Hey, Poniko, I have some friends in the Monochrome desert. Maybe I'll introduce you to them."

"Oh, okay..." Poniko groaned.

She could feel deep down inside her body, Uboa was beaming out in protest.


	4. The Burden of Being Cursed

The Monochrome desert was exactly as its name had implied-a black, white and grey desert. The sand was white as snow, the cacti were grey, and everything was outlined in black. Poniko gazed in wonder at this strange place. Suddenly, she felt her gut coil in itself, and she doubled over in pain. Madotsuki was shocked at this.

"Uboa m-must hate this place..." Poniko smirked. "He's tripping right now..."

Madotsuki shrugged it off. She marched on with Poniko close behind, and eventually they ran into two girls who appeared black and white, who were having what appeared to be a campfire in the middle of the desert.

"Monoe! Monoko!" Madotsuki called out to them. "I brought someone I'd like you to meet!"

"Oooh!" Monoko cried out excitedly. "She's so cute! Like a Barbie doll!"

"Hello, there." Monoe stood up straight, putting out her hand for a shake. "You new around here?"

Poniko shyly backed away. She still had difficuly socializing with people, and meeting these two wasn't going to change that. Absolutely not.

Everyone just stared at the shy girl. This made Poniko just look at the ground. She felt sick, and all she wanted to do was go home.

Madotsuki apologized on her behalf. "Sorry, she's just shy."

"Ah, I see." Monoko figured out. "I was shy once, too."

"No way. YOU?" Madotsuki asked, snarkily.

"Uh-huh!" Monoe defended. "For the first years in middle school, she didn't speak to anybody. She would just sit in the far corner of the classroom and listen to the teacher blab."

Poniko smiled, thinking f herself in rleation to this statement.

"Anyways," Madotsuki asked. "do the two of you know anything about an 'Uboa'? Poniko is inflicted with him, and..."

"EEK!" Monoko cried out, her extra arms shooting outwards. "NOT THAT EVIL BEAST!"

Poniko was surprised by this, but she felt Uboa's pride and satisfaction. God, she hated him.

"Get out of here with your Uboa!" Monoe yelled. "OUT, OUT, OOOOUUUUT!"

Madotsuki grabbed Poniko by the wrist and ran, dodging rocks being tossed at them. Poniko received a rock off the back of her elbow.

They went out through the door and caught their breath. As Madotsuki hunche dover, huffing and wheezing, Poniko immediately walked to the door leading to the Snow World.


End file.
